


From Deep In Blackreach

by WestOfWhat



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Blood, Blood and Violence, Falmer Servant, Friendship, Gen, Non-Dragonborn Main Character(s), Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-06-09 18:47:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15273957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WestOfWhat/pseuds/WestOfWhat
Summary: Lorenz, a Nord boy who has spent his entire life in servitude to the Falmer, is rescued by a Redguard woman, Tavia, and brought to a place he'd thought was only a legend: Skyrim. Finally freed from Blackreach, Lorenz is overcome with a desire to explore this new land, and a desire to find out where he came from and who he left behind. With Tavia there to guide him, those things should be a small feat.





	1. A New Life, A New Friend

The main sources of light down here, deep underground, were giant fungi and a mysterious orb that once belonged to the Dwemer. One young Nord, Lorenz, spent so many hours of his life staring at them. He would lay on the floor of the ruins and gaze up at the orb, wondering how it glowed so brightly. He would stare at the blue mushrooms in the distance and wonder how big they were up close. He wasn’t allowed to leave this particular ruin, his masters wouldn’t allow it. When he was a child, he tried to run out to the mushrooms. He was filled with innocent curiosity. But the Falmer quickly put him back in his place. 

He’d lived his whole life serving them along with many others. There were Orcs, Altmer, Bretons, every race in Tamriel lived as equals under the Falmer’s reign in Blackreach. 

Lorenz was standing by the shaman of the Falmer when he heard a ruckus going on, he heard his masters making their nasty hisses and he heard his fellow servants yelling. Something was happening, but it was way down below him and the shaman. Slowly, the noise started to fade. Ten cries became nine, then eight, then seven... He looked at the shaman and she made a series of noises that only a person who lived their life in servitude to the Falmer could understand. 

“We shall go.” would be a rough translation. Lorenz and his shaman ran down the ramps and he saw bodies lying in the center of the ruins. Some were Falmer, which he couldn’t say he didn’t take any joy in seeing lying cold, other were servants, which he wasn’t sure he felt much of anything for. One figure, though, was moving. Lorenz and his owner finally made it to the bottom, the figure was so absorbed in the battle they didn’t notice him and his master. Lorenz clutched an axe in his hand and looked at the person, they had just finished off another Falmer and stopped to catch their breath. 

The shaman used her staff on the dangerous outsider. A bolt of lightning struck them and they cried out in pain as they fell onto their knees. They jumped up as fast as they could and swung around, now Lorenz could see this person was a woman. He was amazed by her speed as it seemed like only a second had passed before she was a mere foot away. She held two swords in each hand, swords that looked different from anything Lorenz had seen before. She spun her body so fast she looked like a whirlwind, her blades sliced the flesh of the shaman and splattered it on Lorenz. 

It took a minute. 

Lorenz felt the warmth of the blood on him and he watched as his master fell to the ground. Her staff clattered on the cracked stone beneath them. He let out a cry and fell on his ass when he tried to back away. The killer stabbed his master in her chest with both of the blades at once. The killer plunged them deep inside, the sound of metal hitting stone was heard as the swords pierced through the Falmer’s back, Lorenz winced and scrambled backwards. He looked up at now the only other living thing around. 

Through the blood drenching her, he saw her skin was dark and her clothing was several different shades of brown. She pulled out her swords and turned towards the boy. He stared up at her and finally his feelings caught up to him. There it was: Fear. 

He saw his life flash before him as he gazed into her eyes. He saw dozens of beatings at the hands of his masters when he failed them even slightly. He jerked his head away from the woman and towards the gates, he looked at the fungi that remained out of his reach throughout his whole life. Regret filled him as he realized he never had a chance to see anything outside the confines of the ruin. 

Lorenz snapped his head back to the woman, she approached him with her swords still drawn, the boy breathed fast as she drew closer. She looked him up and down and opened her mouth. 

“You’re not going to attack me, are you?” 

The boy looked around at all the corpses. He looked back at her. Blood dripped from the silver blades she clutched in her hands. The blood on him had since become cold, just like the blood inside of him. He realized he dropped his axe. It was laying at the feet of the warrior woman. He just looked at her, eyes wide in terror.

“Answer me, boy,” she commanded. “All your friends decided to attack, do you want to join them?” 

Her voice was threatening and yet somehow...concerned. He shook his head. He didn’t want to speak, he was confused about how he was supposed to act towards her. She looked like one of the servants, but she was obviously not, he would have recognized her at the very least. Her garb was unusual, her swords looked to be of higher quality than anything the Falmer had to give. What was she? And how was he supposed to feel about her? 

On one hand, Lorenz felt gratitude that his captors were dead, but on the other hand, she slaughtered _everybody._ She was stronger than them, all of them. She was stronger than him. If there was one thing he knew, it was that he couldn’t take her in a fight. But now, it was looking as though he wouldn’t have to worry about that. 

“I came to rescue you all down here,” she said as she placed her swords back in their sheathes on her hips. Lorenz’s breathing began to calm down as the threat of death was disappearing. “But nobody wanted to be rescued, huh?” 

There was silence. The woman still looked at him. She sighed. His mind raced to process everything she had said, and to find something to say to her. He realized a couple things, they attacked first and she was trying...to rescue them? 

“Rescue us from what?” 

“The Falmer.” She stepped aside and nudged his former master with her foot. “These hideous, vicious beasts. Why would you bother protecting these things?” 

“I am their s-servant,” Lorenz said, his voice wavering. 

“What the hell are you serving _them_ for?” she asked with a look of disgust on her face. 

Lorenz didn’t have an answer for her, serving them was all he knew. She waited still for him to say something. Silence. 

“Do you want to return to the surface, yes or no?” 

“The...surface?” He’d heard things about the surface, but the place was thought to be only a fool’s dream.

“Do you not remember?” Her face had on a puzzled expression. 

“The surface,” he repeated. “Isn’t that place just a legend?” 

She shook her head and held out her hand to him. When he didn’t take it immediately, she grabbed his hand and pulled him up to his feet. “No. It’s real, and I can show you. Please, come with me. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you so long as you don’t attack me.” 

She walked outside of the walls that confined him for so long, picking up a backpack on the way out. She wiped her face clean of blood, and Lorenz did the same. Lorenz looked down at the bodies lying cold on the ground. Pools of red were everywhere. He couldn’t make out any of their faces, but it hardly mattered anyway. The environment in Blackreach wasn’t terribly social. Most of his interactions with his peers were short, he only knew a few of their names, and that was the extent of his knowledge about them personally. 

She had tried to free them all, and in a way, she did.

Lorenz took a breath and ran off to follow her down the paths lit by mushrooms. As the new pair passed underneath them, he realized how enormous they truly were. Everything around them was tinged blue from its glow. They walked past machines of the Dwemer that were reduced to piles of scrap metal. Soon he saw a gate come into view, it was like the ones they had in the ruins. They walked up some steps and walked through the gates, into the center of the room where there was a lever. There were gears in each corner. The woman pulled the lever and the boy felt the earth shake beneath him, causing him to fall over, but the woman was unfazed. 

“What’s your name?” she asked as she turned and held a hand out to him. 

“Lorenz,” he replied as he accepted her help. “What is yours?” 

“Tavia. Do you remember anything about where you came from?” 

“What do you mean? Of course I do, we were just there.” 

“Our kind don’t live underground. How long did the Falmer keep you that you’ve forgotten your homeland?” Tavia looked at him with pity, how unfitting that a Nord forget where he’s from. 

Before Lorenz could ask her more questions, the area flooded with the brightest light he’d ever seen. The dim glow of the giant mushrooms couldn’t compare to this blinding white light. Lorenz shielded his eyes from the rays of sunlight, his eyes hadn’t had to cope with this type of light since he was just a babe. When his temporary blindness subsided, he saw before him a land covered in white. He could see mountains far in the distance, he could see a blue sky on the horizon, he could see...beauty. It truly was the land of legend. 

A whole new world to explore opened up right in front of him, and he was going to experience it all. 

“ _This_ is the surface?” Lorenz asked in amazement. 

“Skyrim,” Tavia corrected him and turned around to look at Lorenz, she smiled a gentle smile. The first smile Lorenz had seen from her. “Your home.” 

“This can’t be my home, can it? I don’t recognize any of this.” 

“Well, we can fix that.” Tavia took Lorenz’s hand and took him out of the Dwemer elevator. Lorenz stepped out with Tavia into the new world. "Any place can become your home, all you have to do is make a home there." The snow underneath his feet was colder than anything he could recall. The air around him was just as icy. A shiver went through him. 

“Ah,” Tavia said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think to bring clothing for you or your people. The cold shouldn’t be unbearable for a Nord like you, though. We’ll reach the nearest city before you know it. Then we can get you some clothes.” 

The boy felt a giddy feeling bubble up inside himself that replaced his apprehension he felt earlier about following Tavia. He stayed close to her as she walked him along a stone path. The stones were nearly as cold as the white ground, but the thin layer of snow on the stone melted underneath his feet. Lorenz saw gigantic stone walls in the distance, overlooking a body of water, it was connected to the mainland by a bridge. 

“What is that?” Lorenz asked, pointing towards the citadel of a city. 

“Windhelm.” Tavia looked at him and saw his look of both confusion and wonder. “That’s where we’re headed.” 

Lorenz took off towards the city and Tavia followed his eager ass to the entrance of the city. He stood in front of the grand gates, somehow he managed to feel even smaller than he felt when he stepped into this world for the first time. Four people dressed in armor that was draped with blue cloth pushed against a single side of the gate. Light peeked through the small crack that was slowly becoming larger, Tavia ran over to help share the load of opening the gate. Soon it was open just enough to allow them inside. 

Stone covered in snow was all around them. In front of them was a brazier, the heat radiated off of it and onto their skin, a taste of relief in the cold. There was a building behind the fire that had light coming from it, Tavia marched towards the place. Lorenz tagged along behind her, she opened the heavy metal door with ease. Warm air rushed out and hit them, and soon they were both engulfed in it. Feeling returned to their numb body parts. An unfamiliar scent made its way to Lorenz’s nose, it smelled savory and delectable and made his mouth water. The pair walked up a set of stairs and sat down beside a roaring fire. Tavia set down her pack beside her feet. 

A dark elf woman walked up to them. “Ah, Tavia, welcome back. Seems you had quite the adventure,” she said, looking at the blood on Tavia’s clothes. She looked at Lorenz and said, “And you brought a friend? Well, what can I get for you two?” she asked. 

“Could you fetch me some horker stew and a bottle of mead, Luaffyn?” Tavia requested with a smile. “Lorenz, what would you like to eat?” 

“Whatever’s making that fantastic smell,” Lorenz said eagerly, feeling a twinge of hunger as he made his request. 

Tavia and Lorenz watched Luaffyn as she walked downstairs. Tavia returned her eyes back to Lorenz as soon as she their view. 

“Do you really remember nothing about your life before you started serving the Falmer?” Tavia asked. 

“Serving them is all I’ve ever known.” 

“So you truly grew up that way? Serving them?” Tavia looked at him with pity in her eyes. 

“How did _you_ grow up?” 

“Doesn’t matter.” Tavia folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. Luaffyn returned with their meals, two piping hot bowls of horker stew. She handed one to each of them. This was the first time Lorenz had ever seen food like this, the aroma of all the spices and the heat coming from the meal was astounding. He inhaled the steam that smelled like the Hall of Valor in Sovngarde and felt the warmth of the stew through the wooden bowl in his hands. Lorenz saw Tavia put a giant spoonful of her own stew into her mouth. Lorenz followed her example, but missed the part where she blew on it beforehand to cool it down. 

Lorenz burned the hell out of himself. He yelled and spit out his food, he blew air out in an effort to cool himself down. Tavia couldn’t help but snort, she almost choked on a chunk of horker. 

“Boy, is this your first time eating hot food?” Tavia asked through a laugh. “What did they feed you down there?” 

“Chaurus mostly...” 

Tavia scowled when she heard that and she stuck her tongue out. “Urk, we need to get some real food in you... Try not to burn yourself. Blow on it, or give it a few minutes to cool. I should have known a Nord wouldn’t be able to handle it while it was hot.” 

“You keep calling me that... What does it mean?” 

“‘Nord?’” Tavia looked at him and he nodded so she continued, “It means... It’s what you are. It’s your race.” 

“What ‘race’ are you, then?” Lorenz looked at the differences between them and the people around them. He had noticed there were many differences between himself and the other servants, but they hadn’t ever used names that segregated themselves, though they had used words to separate themselves from their owners and their pets. The Falmer, the chaurus, and the servants. 

“Redguard.” Tavia finished off her meal and took a swig of her mead. She let out a sigh of satisfaction as she pulled the bottle from her lips. “My people never made alcohol as well as your kind has.” 

Lorenz stared at it and Tavia took notice. She held out the bottle to him and he took it, the coldness was surprising in comparison to the hot stew he still held in his other hand. He took a gulp of the alcohol, the flavor made him gag and cough. Tavia laughed yet again at his naivety. 

“What do you say we do with you now?” Tavia asked as she took back her mead and guzzled it down. 

“I was hoping you’d tell me.” Lorenz looked at her with hopeful and ever so slightly worried eyes. “I don’t want to go back to...” His voice trailed off as he remembered the condition in which he left everyone in Blackreach. 

“Well.” Tavia put her bottle on the table in front of them. “You’ve proven yourself to be pleasant enough company. What do you think about traveling with me? At least until I can find some place to dump you off safely.” 

Lorenz stared into his bowl, at the fire reflecting off the broth in the stew. He took his first proper bite of the food and savory flavors washed over his tongue. He developed brand new tastes and brand new favorites. 

“You weren’t an impressive warrior,” Tavia said. That wasn’t surprising, Lorenz hadn’t ever been in a real battle before. There was little trouble in Blackreach. Tavia looked Lorenz up and down, at his rags and she recalled his primitive axe. “But I think we can fix that.” 

Lorenz swallowed his food and turned to gaze at the fire. “I’m not going back.” He saw his old home in the flames. He saw his shaman lying in a pool of blood, not just hers but a mixture of their entire clan. He saw everything else he’d seen, the giant mushrooms and the snow and this city. “I’d like to see everything this new world has to offer.” 

“That’s a yes then?” 

“If you can promise me the world.” 

“I can promise to show you everything I’ve ever known, and the unknown beyond.” 

The two exchanged a glance and smile. 

Though the situation they met in was frightening, Lorenz couldn’t help but feel safer in her company. 

Lorenz finished off his meal and he and Tavia stood up, she picked her bag off the ground and Lorenz followed her down the steps of the building. Tavia spoke with the innkeeper and gave her a handful of gold. The innkeeper led the two to different rooms. Tavia came to Lorenz’s room before she turned in for the night, now finally clean of blood. 

“In the morning,” she said, “we can get you some armor and a real weapon.” 

Lorenz nodded at her and she left for her own room. Lorenz sat on his bed and felt furs for the first time. Underneath them, he was warm and comfortable sleeping for once. The cold stone beds in the Dwemer ruins were not pleasant to sleep on for your entire life. Wood and hay wasn’t much better, but the furs definitely helped. He was out like a light. He woke to Tavia shaking him like a madwoman. Lorenz pushed her off him. 

“Tavia, what the hell was that about?” 

“It woke you, didn’t it?” Tavia gave him a sly smile and threw him some thick clothes, she also set down a pair of boots beside his bed. “You’ll be wearing these for a bit, just until we can get you some fitted armor.” 

Lorenz began to undress, much to Tavia’s shock. She turned a bright red and yelled at him, “Boy, have you no shame? Wait for me to leave the damn room.” Tavia left and practically slammed the door behind her, leaving Lorenz a bit lost. Nevertheless, he put on the outfit she picked out for him and met her outside the door. 

They made their way over to the blacksmith, but they stopped when they heard men spewing racist remarks towards dark elves. Tavia stepped up to the two and gave them a look full of daggers. They glared back and walked away as did Tavia and Lorenz. 

“What are dark elves?” Lorenz asked. 

“A race of people. They come from Morrowind. They woman who brought us our meals last night was one.” 

“Is it typical for people up here to have an opinion like those men?” 

“It doesn’t matter if it is,” Tavia scoffed, though Lorenz could tell it was not directed at him. “It doesn’t make it right,” Tavia said as they arrived at the blacksmith to have Lorenz fitted for a set of leather armor. 

“If you’re going to be following me, I can’t have you making noise. We need the upper hand, and to get that, we need to be sneaky,” Tavia said. 

“You didn’t seem sneaky when you raided my village,” Lorenz said as he was measured by the blacksmith.

“I was,” Tavia muttered, “but I spoke to one of your people, and she alerted everyone. Including the Falmer.” 

Lorenz went silent. 

“I thought they would be glad to flee that prison,” Tavia said. “I was wrong.” 

He looked at her. He couldn’t see a hint of emotion on her face, but he sensed something he couldn’t name. They remained silent until after he got suited with his new leather armor. Tavia handed over a pouch of gold to the blacksmith and asked to see his weapons. 

“An axe,” Tavia told the blacksmith. 

“Is this for the boy?” The blacksmith’s eyes gestured to Lorenz. Tavia and Lorenz nodded. “A war axe then.” 

He pulled out several axes of various types, all unique from what Lorenz had seen before. All beautiful in their own right. Lorenz stepped up to them and caressed them, touching them as though these weapons designed to break skulls would be destroyed if he wasn’t careful how he handled them. 

“Pick any one you like.” Tavia leaned against the wall and watched him. “I’ve got plenty of coin.” 

Lorenz turned and smiled at her. He looked over each one, and held them to see how it would feel to wield them. He settled on one made of quicksilver. 

“You’re a true Nord, huh?” The blacksmith asked him. Lorenz looked at him like he looked at Tavia a majority of the time, with a quizzical look on his face. “That’s an old-fashioned Nordic axe. That one, crafted it to look like my grandfather’s only trusted companion.” 

Lorenz wasn’t sure what being a Nord meant to all these people, the people of Skyrim. 

Tavia gave the man some coin for the axe and they left the blacksmith’s. 

“What do we do now, Tavia?” 

“While you were sleeping, I spoke with the innkeeper. She told me of a giant camp nearby that’s been causing trouble. We’re going to take care of that.” There was a pause. Tavia turned to face Lorenz and asked, “Do you know what a giant is?” 

“Occasionally we would see one pass by the entrance to our home. Peaceful from what I’ve seen...” 

“Giants don’t usually bother you if you mind your own... This giant’s camp is so close to the road, though, that if you linger too long on it... Well, let’s just say there will be nothing left of you.” 

Lorenz gulped and trailed behind Tavia as she walked through the snowy streets towards the gates. He tugged on the furs she wore. Tavia batted his hand away. 

“Come on, boy, you should be a man by now.” 

Lorenz clung to the handle of his axe for comfort instead. Tavia led the way, walking with confidence like she knew exactly where she was going and what she was doing. Lorenz looked like a little lost puppy following his owner, and honestly... That wasn’t too far off from what he actually was. 

They walked along an icy path that thawed more and more with each step they took. The pair saw steam rising in the distance, Lorenz wondered if he would see any of those Dwarven contraptions out here. They got closer and closer to the encampment, Lorenz saw bubbling pools of water off the side of the road, he saw those were the source of the steam. 

“When we’ve taken care of the giant, what do you say we take a dip in those hot springs?” 

Lorenz looked at the water and his eyes fell upon a crack in the road, water flowed through it. He knelt down and slid his hand down into the crevice, the water he touched was only noticeable because of the wetness. It wasn’t cold nor hot, but instead matched his body’s temperature perfectly. Comfortable. 

“The pools are much hotter,” Tavia said as she turned back to look at Lorenz. 

“I would love to experience them myself.” Lorenz smiled at her. They walked side by side, their footsteps were in tune with each other. Smoke was rising over the horizon, the bonfire of the giant. Tavia’s expression turned serious and she walked faster with each step. Soon they could see the blazing flames, it wasn’t hard to spot. Tavia pulled Lorenz behind a boulder, they were close to the giant. Lorenz saw the giant’s back turned to them when he peeked around the corner and he could feel the heat from the roaring fire. 

“Now, the plan,” Tavia whispered and glanced around, holding her breath for a moment while she listened for any noise. “We have to take out one of his legs. He doesn’t know we’re here yet, but it won’t stay that way for long. We have to act fast. I’m going to sneak up on him, slash behind his knee as hard as I can. Then, I want you to come in and plunge your axe deep into his neck.” 

Lorenz felt cold sweat on the grip of his axe, he gave her a tentative nod and she returned that with a confident nod and a smile that said she was confident in him as well. Tavia disappeared from his sight in a moment, he looked out from behind the boulder and saw her racing towards the giant without making a sound. Lorenz jumped out and began running, he knew she would soon strike and he needed time to catch up. 

Tavia held her twin blades in a death grip, she torn into the giant’s knee, blood spurted out from an artery and coated her fur armor. The giant let out a mix between a battlecry and a baby’s cry. Lorenz rushed towards the creature who fell onto his good knee. Blood was spilling onto the dirt below. The heat from the fire was getting more and more intense with each movement Lorenz made, hot, hot, _tremendously_ hot! Lorenz felt beads of sweat forming on his body, under the leather it was sweltering. He felt his grip slipping from his axe, he clung to it as hard as he possibly could and lunged forward in a desperate attempt to get this over with before it all went to hell. He plunged his axe into the giant’s neck and when it got lodged deep into the giant’s flesh, he pulled on it and it came out with a gush of blood. It splashed on Lorenz and he tasted iron, he spit out the blood and stumbled backwards. The giant attempted to stop the bleeding with his hand but he soon began to waver and fell onto his face into the dirt. 

“Excellent work,” Tavia said, walking up to Lorenz and giving him a hard pat on the back. “Now, let’s see what this giant’s got.” 

Tavia approached a large chest that sat beside some rocks. Lorenz followed her. 

“We’re just going to take his things?” Lorenz asked. 

“He’s dead, what use does he have for anything anymore?” Tavia laughed. 

Tavia opened the chest in front of them and Lorenz saw dozens of pelts, pelts from creatures he’d never seen before. Bears, foxes, deer... He touched each of them and was met with a rough sensation, not pleasant but they felt as though they would be plenty able to keep a person warm. Tavia closed the chest after Lorenz took back his hand and she walked over to a couple of sacks on sticks. 

“Can’t say I expected much, but the real treasure from a giant’s camp, the thing that makes it worth the trouble...” Tavia pulled out a bowl from her pack and scooped some greenish curds into it. The sight was repulsive, it looked more like dung than what it actually was. “...is their mammoth cheese.” Tavia handed the bowl to Lorenz along with a spoon. Lorenz took both and stared blankly at the spoon. Tavia sighed and took his hand and made him grab a spoonful of the cheese. She motioned for him to eat it. He took a bite, it tasted sharp and had the consistency of cottage cheese but much thicker. He didn’t cringe or gag, decades of chaurus built him an immunity to such reactions, but the taste wasn’t something he’d like to experience again. Still, he took another spoonful reluctantly. 

Tavia noticed this and took it from him. “You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to, boy.” 

“I don’t want to appear ungrateful,” Lorenz said, his head down. 

“You’re not being ungrateful,” Tavia said as she took big bites of the cheese. “Just means more for me, anyway.” 

Tavia finished it off and stuffed the bowl and spoon back into her pack. She began to walk off towards the springs, she waved for Lorenz to follow. She came to a large pool with fairly deep water, deep enough to come up to Lorenz’s knees. She pulled her pack to her front and took out two sets of smallclothes. 

“Take all your clothes off and put this on, and for Gods’ sake, _wait_ until I leave before you undress,” Tavia said as she handed him one set. She pointed to a tree and said, “I’m going to change behind that tree. If you value your life, don’t peek at me, boy.” 

Lorenz nodded, though she confused him with her shyness about changing in front of one another, he respected the lady’s wished. But still, he couldn’t help but wonder if something happened that made her uncomfortable with it, no one back in Blackreach had an issue with it. When she was out of sight, Lorenz changed into the cotton shorts she had given him and Tavia came back wearing a similar pair, along with a shirt. She held the clothing she was wearing before in her arms. She walked to the pool and set her clothes on a ledge above the water. She sat down in the water and it turned red for a moment as the blood washed off her skin. She turned to Lorenz and motioned for him to join her. 

Lorenz walked to where Tavia sat, the warm water surrounding just his feet was a wonderful feeling, but the feeling was amplified when Lorenz sat down as well. He allowed himself to lay back so the water engulfed him even more. His whole body relaxed into the springs’ warmth, his hearing was dulled as he sunk into the water. 

“We had nothing like this back home,” Lorenz said, sitting up so he could hear the world around him once more. He rinsed his face so all the remaining blood from the battle was gone. 

“What was it like down there?” Tavia asked. 

“As long as I did what they wished, things were peaceful,” Lorenz said, he let out a deep sigh and continued, “but the smallest mistakes ended in beatings.” 

Tavia didn’t respond, she just looked at him and waited for him to continue again. 

“For some, they paid the price for their mistakes with their lives. Our masters would drag their bodies off, and that would be the last we would ever see of them.” 

Tavia thought back to a sight she’d seen on her first trip into Blackreach. People in the process of being turned into leather by the Falmer. Her stomach turned as she remembered all the Falmer weapons she’d seen that had leather straps on them. She decided to keep that information to herself. 

“Did anyone try escaping?” Tavia asked. 

“Many. The ones who were brought to us full-grown were usually the ones to attempt. They never made it far.” Lorenz looked solemn. 

“Why didn’t that elf I spoke to want to escape when I showed up?” Tavia felt a twinge of sadness inside her, an attempt to save lives ended them instead. They died still enslaved. 

“I can’t speak for them, not really. But I would guess fear. We’d all seen what happened to those that tried escaping. We thought them fools who deluded themselves into believing in a legend, those people that claimed to be from the surface and tried to ‘return’ to it.” 

“How could you believe that about them?” Tavia looked at him concerned and confused. “How could you believe all of them were deluded? Didn’t they tell you all about here? Where did you all think they were coming from?” 

“Yes, they told us about the surface.” Lorenz sighed. “Looking back, it’s obvious they were telling the truth. They all had similar tales, with similar details about the surface. But when I was down there, it was easy to believe they were making it all up.” 

They remained silent for a moment. Tavia tried imagining how he could fool himself into believing that, but ultimately... She wasn't there, she couldn't judge him for not realizing everything he'd ever known wasn't all there was. That the real lie was that Blackreach was all there was. But one question remained unanswered that she couldn't help but ask again. 

"Where did you think all of them came from?" 

"Other tribes? Blackreach was enormous, I assumed there could be other groups down there. I was confined to that area my entire life." 

Tavia nodded and silence fell again. 

"Say, Tavia," Lorenz said. "Can I ask you something?" 

"Always, kid." 

"Where do you think I actually came from?" 

"Skyrim, of course." 

"Yes, but where? Where in Skyrim was I taken from?" 

"Are you asking me where do I think your family is?" 

"I don't know. I'm not sure what that word means. I guess I'm asking, where do you think my original tribe is right now?" 

"Oh, dear, you are asking about your family." Tavia put her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. "Well. I don't know where they are. But..." She sat back and thought. Surely Skyrim couldn't be so big, she just had to use some of her wits to narrow things down. Maybe. It might be hard, but she looked at Lorenz and saw a boy who'd never known his mother or father, a boy who'd never even known freedom. The urge to help him, to help him more, grew in her. So, she had decided. 

"Let's find them."


	2. Kindling

The gates to Windhelm opened once again before them. Tavia marched into the city with Lorenz trailing close behind her. Tavia wondered where she should start in this new quest she decided to take on, there were so many cities, so many people in Skyrim. There was one thing, though, that could narrow her search down: The great lifts.

The two of them walked into the tavern, and up the stairs to the dining area. They sat down and Tavia brought out a map from her rucksack. She laid it out on the table in front of them and pointed to a couple locations.

“These are the entrances to Blackreach,” Tavia said. “You must have been taken from one of the nearby cities... Windhelm, Dawnstar, Morthal, Stonehills. Are you sure you don’t remember _anything?_ ”

Lorenz looked down as he shook his head.

“Well, this’ll have to do to start us off.” Tavia stood up and put her hand on Lorenz’s shoulder. “Come on, boy, let’s go ask around.”

He followed her as she approached the innkeeper, asking her if she had ever heard anything about a child going missing around a couple decades ago.

“Around here? I don’t think any kids have ever gone missing here. Now that you mention it, I think I heard something about a missing kid in Dawnstar around that time... I don’t think I ever heard anything about what actually happened to the poor kid,” said Elda, the innkeeper.

Tavia thanked her for the information and paid for another two rooms. As they began to walk away Elda spoke up.

“What became of the giant, Tavia?”

“Dead,” Tavia said as she turned to face her. “You can tell everyone the road is safe again.”

“Aye, thank you. You do a great deal for us every time you pay a visit.”

Tavia didn’t give her a “you’re welcome” or even acknowledge her thanks. She simply turned back around and walked outside with Lorenz following behind her.

“That felt... Odd, back there,” Lorenz said.

“I don’t like her,” Tavia said, walking in the direction of the Palace of the Kings.

“Why?”

“Spouts a lot of nonsense, not rumors, just nonsense.”

“What do you mean?”

“I once came by on a trip with a friend, a dark elf, and the way she spoke to him...” Tavia paused and gave Lorenz look of annoyance. “Neither of us appreciated it.”

Lorenz nodded, he thought back to the men he saw before who Tavia had also been annoyed with. Tavia thought back to them as well, and to the current Jarl, a feeling of revulsion overcame her as she stepped closer to the Palace. She sighed as the guards opened the door for them and stepped into the throne room. Tavia walked up to Jorleif, handing him a piece of paper.

“Road’s safe,” said Tavia.

“Thank you, again, Tavia. Say, ever think about settling down? I’m sure Ulfric wouldn’t be opposed to letting you purchase a home here.” Jorleif smiled at her.

“I’d sleep better in a wolf's den than Hjerim.” Tavia shuddered. “Can’t forget a sight like that.”

“Let me know if you ever change your mind, you’ll always be welcome here.”

Jorleif handed Tavia a sack of coin. On her way out with Lorenz, Tavia grabbed a couple bits of food from the Jarl’s dining table. She turned her head to Jorleif, asking him permission, he nodded and smiled at her. Tavia handed Lorenz a piece of bread and an apple and took the same for herself.

As they walked back into the city, Lorenz said to her, “You’re well liked.”

“That’s what doing favors will get you,” Tavia said as she took a bite out of her bread. She swallowed, then smiled and winked at him as she said, “Sometimes I get paid, too.”

“You get paid for doing things people tell you to do?” Lorenz felt a twinge of jealousy at the thought of being rewarded for doing as he was told.

“Not always, sometimes they can’t pay, other times I don’t let them.”

“Why wouldn’t you let them?”

“Some people need their money more than I do, Lorenz.”

Lorenz wondered how she could tell. He had learned a lot of the way Falmer interacted, but the interactions between the servants hadn’t given him much knowledge of the nuances. Money was a new concept as well, but one that he could understand easily enough.

“Oh.” Tavia stopped walking and turned to Lorenz. She pulled out the coin Jorleif had given her. She divided it in half and handed one half to Lorenz in the pouch it came in, putting the rest into one of her own personal pouches. “Here, you helped defeat that giant with me. Thank you.”

“I only did what I was told to do,” Lorenz said as he hesitantly took the purse. “Are you sure you want to give me this? Isn’t it valuable?”

“That’s why I’m giving it to you, for a job well done.”

“Shouldn’t I be giving this to you? For saving me? For paying for my axe and armor?” Lorenz realized his new equipment might not have been cheap, then recalled the food and lodging Tavia had given him as well. “You’ve taken care of me.”

“Boy, you need it more than I do. I wanted to do those things for you, they are gifts. There’s no need to repay a gift.” Tavia set her hand on his shoulder. “But your company is payment enough. I don’t get much of that anymore.”

Gratitude filled Lorenz. He didn’t know what he would do with his new “fortune,” but he was happy just knowing Tavia thought him worthy of gifts, and that she thought he did a good enough job to earn half of the gold from their mission.

Tavia marched towards the docks before Lorenz could follow up on what she said, she thought sailors might know more about Dawnstar than the innkeeper. They docked there on occasion, after all. Tavia pushed the gate to the docks open and walked towards the ships.

“Kjar!” Tavia yelled at the captain as he worked on his boat. “Come here, I got something to ask you!”

Lorenz felt odd, Tavia was so familiar with all these people. Yet, he wasn’t too familiar with her yet. Though each minute he spent with her, he uncovered more about her. Even in the silence during their walks, he saw how she held herself. With confidence, but not arrogance. She always looked like she was in deep thought.

The captain came over to the pair, looking at Lorenz like he was an oddity.

“What is it? And who’s this?” Kjar asked as he looked Lorenz up and down.

“Lorenz, treat him with respect. He’s traveling with me.”

“Aye, you finally quitting that lone wolf act?” Kjar gave Tavia a smile that Lorenz thought odd. Tavia cringed.

“You heard anything about a kid going missing from Dawnstar twenty years ago? Or anywhere else?” Tavia asked, ignoring Kjar’s question.

“Twenty years? You’re really testing my memory, lass,” Kjar held his chin and thought for a moment. “Yeah, I heard something. Not sure how long ago, must’ve been a long time, though, because I can hardly remember most of what I heard. A kid went missing there, yeah. I don’t know anything about what happened with the parents.”

“That’s all I needed to know. Thanks.”

* * *

“We’re going to need to get you some warmer clothes,” Tavia said as she eyed Lorenz’s leather armor. The two sat again in Candlehearth Hall, eating dinner together.

“I’m warm enough in this,” Lorenz said.

“You want to test how warm you’ll be wearing that in a snowstorm?” Tavia smiled slyly at him as she took a bite of her food. Lorenz looked at her, remembering his place as a vastly less experienced adventurer.

“Maybe you’re right...”

“You’re damn right I am.” Tavia chuckled. “We’ll get you some furs before we leave in the morning.”

They ate their meals in mostly silence, aside from Luaffyn singing a few songs and playing her instruments. Lorenz took in the songs she sang, tales of heroes and villains.

“There sure are a lot of stories people tell here, aren’t there?” Lorenz asked.

“Those bard songs are only a small portion of how many stories are out there, boy.” Tavia smiled as she looked over at Luaffyn playing her lute. “Do you like them?”

“They’re violent.”

“I suppose.”

“But yes.”

“That’s what I thought.” Tavia took a gulp of her mead and leaned back in her chair. “There’s far more that aren’t songs. I could show you.” Tavia thought to storybooks she read as a child, the adventures she went on vicariously through the characters.

“What kinds of stories are there?” Lorenz asked with a smile.

“Adventures, ghost stories, romances, mysteries. So much to get lost in...”

“You’ll show me them?”

“Of course, kid. You’ve already missed out on so much, we’ve got to catch you up.”

“Thank you, Tavia.” Lorenz looked her into her eyes. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and everything you continue to do for me.”

“Aw, kid.” Tavia put her hand on his knee. “You’re sweet... But I haven’t done much for you.”

“Yes, you have.” Lorenz shook his head and frowned. “You saved me, you fed me, you gave me a place to sleep. You’re helping me find my...family,” he said as though he was asking a question.

“I’d do that for anybody in need of it... and, boy, you were in need of it...”

Lorenz sunk in his seat a bit, Tavia noticed the change in his demeanor. Had she said something wrong?

“Lorenz? You feeling alright?”

“Fine.” Lorenz smiled and waved her off. “Just tired. I’m going to go to my room. I’ll see you in the morning, Tavia.” He began to stand.

“Well, goodnight,” Tavia said, a little stunned.

“Goodnight.”

* * *

Tavia laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering what had set Lorenz off. She knew what she said just before, but she couldn’t comprehend why that would upset the boy. She had been stewing on it since Lorenz left her by herself at dinner.

Did he think she didn’t care about him more than just “anybody?”

That was silly, plain ole silly.

But could that be it?

But she had shown him his company was enjoyable, could he not see that? He’d seen her interact with other people, she was friendlier to him than others, was she not? Did he see that as only pity?

She was probably overthinking it.

Lorenz was tired, that’s all.

* * *

“Keeping warm?” Tavia looked back at Lorenz, now covered in furs like her. He simply answered her question with a delighted smile and nod. Gods, he reminded her of a little boy with that gesture. Oddly adorable, for technically a grown man. Still a boy to her, though. “The sun’s starting to set, it will only get colder from here on out. There’s an inn a whiles up the road we’ll be staying at.”

They had been traveling for hours already, they took off close to dawn, Tavia wanted every bit of daylight they could get. As Frostfall came to a close, the days were getting shorter and shorter. They had walked in silence for the majority of their journey so far, Lorenz stayed always a few paces behind Tavia. She wondered if it had to do with the night before, though he had walked behind her usually, she couldn’t help but think about it.

Side by side, that’s what she wanted. Just to reassure her he was fine.

The sun disappeared behind mountains, darkness covered them. They heard creaking, the creaking of the old sign for the Nightgate Inn. Snow began to fall on them. They entered the inn with white specks all over their furs.

“Two rooms, please,” Tavia said as she pulled out her gold.

“Only got one left tonight,” said the innkeeper.

“What?” Tavia looked around the inn, seeing more people than she ever had seen before in this inn, which admittedly still wasn’t many. She sighed. “I guess we’ll take one then.”

“Aye, good luck figuring that out. It’s all yours.” He took the gold from her and pointed her in the direction of their room. The one with a double bed, of course.

They walked into the room and dropped all their belongings off.

“Shall I sleep on the floor, or do you want to sacrifice your comfort?” Tavia asked.

“Why would we have to do that?”

“The bed.” Tavia looked away from Lorenz’s face. “We can’t both sleep in it.”

“I don’t see why not.” Lorenz gave her a confused look. It wasn’t a big deal to him, why would it be?

Tavia blushed and scoffed at him. “Well, I’m sure you’ll see why when you’re so close to me trying to sleep,” she said. Lorenz shrugged. That boy sure was a strange one, what with his undressing in front of her and now this...idea that he should share a bed with her. Tavia’s face felt hot at the notion. She huffed and walked out into the dining area.

* * *

Night had fallen, Tavia and Lorenz were both starting to feel tired after dinner. Tavia thought about how comfortable the bed would feel, she was a little drunk and so warm by the fire. Then she remembered she’d have to share a room with Lorenz tonight. Instantly she became even more tired, but not in the pleasant way she felt before.

Lorenz was sitting across the room. They ate apart, he paid for his own meal, and Tavia spent her meal looking at him through the flames that separated them. There was a growing pit in her stomach that she tried to fill with alcohol. She had almost forgotten about it. There it was again. She took her new bottle of mead and walked outside into the freezing air. She sat down at the docks and took a swig.

Moonlight and aurora borealis reflected off the deep blue lake. Tavia stared at the reflection of the aurora as it danced. She let the cold wash over her. Gods, it was cold out here. The hand she held her mead with began to go numb, then so did the rest of her. She allowed her mind to go blank. She listened to the small waves ebb and flow against the dock.

“Tavia?”

Lorenz’s voice brought her out of her trance. She shook her head and looked behind her. He walked up to her and sat down next to her. He didn’t say another word and simply sat with her. He gazed up at the sky, at the two moons and the colors lighting the world up. Though they were silent, Lorenz was back by her side. Tavia felt a flame in her chest and that pit in her stomach felt filled in a way that alcohol couldn’t replicate.

“I could have never imagined something so beautiful,” Lorenz finally said. Tavia didn’t respond. She looked in his eyes, she saw the aurora in them. “Somehow it all feels closer than the mushrooms did.”

Tavia remembered when she first came to Blackreach, it felt enormous. Walking underneath those mushrooms made her feel so small. The entire cave gave her the impression that she had entered another world. She looked up at the moons in the sky, imagining how Lorenz must be feeling the same way about Skyrim. He stood up.

“Goodnight, Tavia.” That flame in her felt like it might burn out, but a smile from Lorenz kindled it. He walked off, back into the inn. Tavia sat there for a while longer. She finished her bottle and felt that same comfortable sleepiness. She went to their room, Lorenz was asleep on the bed. Tavia considered for a moment dealing with it and sleeping beside him. No, she couldn’t... She took the pillow and one of the furs Lorenz wasn’t using and laid it on the floor.

It wouldn’t be comfortable, but it would do. She’d been through worse. On a table in the corner, she noticed a book. It’d been a while since she read a good story, she picked it up and read the title, _The Cabin in the Woods,_  a tale that frightened many a child. Though she’d never admit it, she had been one of them. For old times' sake, she decided to reread it. She lit a candle beside her makeshift bed and started reading. She heard rustling coming from the bed. She glanced up.

The boy looked at her through half open eyes, had she woken him?

“Yes?” Tavia asked.

“What is that?” Lorenz mumbled.

“A story,” Tavia said. She remembered how she told him she would show him some stories. This one, though... How would he react? She pondered it. “Would you like me to read it to you?”

Lorenz grumbled something and nodded. Tavia began to read aloud, the story was about a soldier trying to go home and he had to travel for a few days through a forest haunted by an axe-wielding ghost. The soldier eventually defeated her using magic, but as he made it out of the forest, he thought he heard her again.

Partway through reading it, Lorenz sat up cross-legged and looked far more alert than before. By the time Tavia finished, he was clinging to his pillow. Tavia smiled, he was one of those children, too. She had grown out of being afraid of stories by now, but she remembered how it felt.

“Is she still out there?” Lorenz asked, clinging the pillow tighter.

“Maybe.” Tavia laughed inside her mind. His eyes grew bigger.

“Do you know magic?” Lorenz glanced around the room. “I don’t know how to do magic.”

“Relax, boy.” Tavia got up and sat beside him on the bed, she put her hand on his shoulder. “It isn’t real.”

“Oh.” Lorenz loosened of his grip on his pillow.

“At least I don’t think it is.” She couldn’t resist the temptation of messing with the kid a little more. His grip tightened again. Tavia laughed and said, “I’m joking, boy, it isn’t real.”

“Even if it isn’t...” Lorenz went quiet for a moment and looked down at the floor. “Would you please sleep up here with me?”

“Damn, boy, you’re that frightened of a story?” Tavia couldn’t help but laugh a bit. Lorenz blushed but luckily for him the candlelight wasn’t enough for Tavia to notice.

“No, I don’t want you to sleep on the floor,” Lorenz said. Tavia nodded and smiled, she knew he was lying. The thought of the bed became better and better each moment she spent awake, maybe, she thought, she should deal with it and share the bed. She saw the boy shaking, almost unnoticeably.

“Alright,” Tavia said, “but don’t expect me to hold you like a mother would her child.” She grabbed her bedding from the floor and put it back on the bed. She blew out the candle.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that.” They both laid back, keeping as much of a respectable distance as they could. “What is a family?” Tavia bit her lip. A knot formed in her stomach.

“They’re people who care about you,” Tavia said. “They will do anything to protect you, to make you happy because they love you.” Tavia locked her hands together on her stomach and twiddled her fingers.

“Tavia...” Lorenz turned his head towards her, she looked at him too, but she was unable to see what his expression was in the dark. “Am I your friend?”

“Of course, You think I’d keep you around if you weren’t?” Tavia laughed.

“You said you would do that for anyone in need...” Lorenz’s voice got quieter. It finally clicked in Tavia’s mind, how could she have been so blind before?

“No.” Tavia sat up, still looking at his face in the shadows. “I didn’t mean it like that. Saving you, helping you. I would have done that for anyone, yes... But I was and still am willing to have you by my side anywhere I go.”

“You’re the first person I’ve ever thought of as a friend, Tavia.” Lorenz’s voice was shaky. Everyone in Blackreach, they weren’t his _friends,_  they were his fellow slaves. There was no kinship there, but with Tavia, he finally felt what he suppose he should have with them.

“And you’re the first person I’ve thought of as one in a long time, kid.” Tavia grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. He squeezed back.

She said it so many times now, how she liked him, and yet one remark sent him down this path of wondering if she actually did or not. Lorenz criticized himself, instead of just asking her about it, he tried to distance himself from her.

“I thought... It’s stupid. It’s been so obvious that you enjoy my company, but I got it in my head-”

“It’s not stupid,” Tavia interrupted him, ”I’m sorry for making you feel like you meant as much to me as anyone else.” Tavia blushed at the thought of saying what she was thinking, that he somehow became special to her in such a short time.

“Thank you, Tavia.” She was sure she saw a smile. He held her hand tight in his. “After we find my family... Are you still going to show me the world?”

“Everything I’ve ever known.” Tavia laid her head down next to Lorenz’s, their hands still locked together. They smiled at each other. Tavia felt that warmth in her again, but a thought passed through her head that threatened to chill her heart again.

Would he still want to be by her side when they found his family?


End file.
